A. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to methods for achieving color harmonization among parts that form manufactured products, such as automobiles and more particularly, with a method for color harmonization of manufactured articles which manages to establish numerical-visual color tolerances for the different parts that make up the article and that ensure the visual approval of the end customer, operating conditions for the manufacture of said parts through which colors are obtained that fall within said tolerances, and the acceptance of the finished product's color harmonization by using algorithms and visual examination by a person or machine.
B. Description of the Related Art
In the last few decades, a noticeable trend has been observed on behalf of the consumer to make the decision to buy a product based on what he/she perceives from his/her five senses, thus controlling and monitoring the final appearance of products in the market, specially with regards to the color of products, has become significantly important; hence why the manufacturing industry has been forced to produce a greater variety of its products in less time, reducing the product life cycle.
Currently, in industries where color approval by the final assembler is required, it is important to have a system that manages the color processes in order to perform them quickly and efficiently.
Among the existing technologies currently used as tools to monitor a part's color are the spectrophotometer, colorimeter and gonio-spectrophotometer, which have the capacity to measure color at a particular point of the production process, comparing it with a given color standard, but these devices have two inconvenients: first and foremost, they give disparate measurements for a visual examination due to not taking into consideration and controlling texture variations and base substrate; unlike this invention, which can indicate the points modified in order to manage color in a manufacturing process and obtain the desired color.
In said manufacturing processes, new customer orders for different products, pieces or parts are continually generated, which are requested in a certain color as final appearance and for said purpose, the orders can be accompanied by a physical part called “master”, which is a plate of various substrates or controlled pattern, with the visual appearance desired by the client. Otherwise, the client may provide a numerical or nominative specification referring to industry standard and established patterns, such as the Pantone, but ultimately, it is about obtaining a visual validation of what the client wants.
Once the order is issued, the common practice is to generate a new part number for each different part to be manufactured. For each part, one or more colors can be requested and each color may or may not generate a different part number according to the common practices of the various industries.
For instance, the normal practice currently followed by automobile assemblers to obtain the acceptance of a color specification for an automobile is by means of several color tests, the optimization of manufacturing processes for each part based on staff experience, trial and error, and an exhausting interdepartmental organizational effort. As a result of these empirical processes, labor and machinery costs due to multiple tuning up operations, delays on delivery times, non-programmed costs and unsatisfied customers—who can even detect parts in the same automobile whose colors do not properly match up—, are generated.
In order to partly resolve the aforementioned issues, Poland's patent application publication No. 2012/0254141 describes a computerized system and method to analyze the color consistency in automobile parts and provide feedback on the painting processes produced at an assembly plant. The system and method facilitates the gathering of data and analysis of numerous points during the assembly and painting processes in order to identify possible adjustments so that the parts are painted with a specific tolerance, and it identifies which parts should be assembled with what others so as to ensure color harmony. During an inspection process, the body and bumper are measured, and the measurements and colorimetric data are stored together with an identifier for the part of the body or bumper. Measurements related with the equipment and paint mixture variables are also stored, as well as environmental variables that influence the results of the paint. A software application facilitates data analysis and the availability of troubleshooting manuals, which aid in issue resolution of color discrepancies is mentioned, describing some of them. Since color tendencies drift apart from a concrete standard, changes are made to the painting process, including operation conditions, before painting the parts so as to prevent color inconsistencies.
The Poland method and system adjusts the painting and manufacturing parameters when these fall out of those predefined, but it is well-known in the industry that although the color parameters fall out of those predefined, said color parameters may be accepted by the customer, since upon visually examining the part, it may seem adequate to the eyes of an expert, hence with the Poland method and system, parts accepted after a visual examination by the client may be rejected by the system since they fall out of the predefined parameters, given that the Poland system and method does not take into account the visual examination of the parts. Likewise, the Poland method does not define the iterative generation of any type of tolerances or of the final part, nor of process conditions.
It would be desirable to have a method which takes into account visual examinations of color and that could adjust parts' color and manufacturing parameters in accordance with parts accepted after performing a visual examination and even when these are outside the original color parameters.
In view of the above described need, the applicant developed a method for color harmonization in manufactured articles, which allows establishing color tolerances based on an initial visual pattern and on visual observations for the various parts which make up the article and the operating conditions for manufacture of said parts, all by means of the use of algorithms and visual examination by an individual or machine, through which colors are obtained that ensure client's visual acceptance with regards to an initial pattern and acceptance of the finished product's color harmonization, connecting the various suppliers and giving visibility over the adjustment relative to the visual-numerical tolerances that have been already previously obtained thanks to a visual entry.
The applicant's method allows having total control, detecting and managing the color variations by the client and supplier, in addition to improving the definition of color tolerance. Moreover, the method allows indicating and controlling the process variables based on said variations in the color tolerances.